The 2018 USAPL Raw National Championships have quickly come and gone. Over the span of the championships, there were a ton of epic performances and one in particular that stood out to us from the rest: Samantha Calhoun, who put on a legendary show in the stacked women’s -63kg weight class.
There are a ton of competitive USAPL weight classes, but a strong argument could be made for the depth in the -63kg weight class. This weight class hosts a plethora of big named athletes like Jennifer Millican, and of course powerlifting legend Jennifer Thompson.
This win was absolutely huge, not just for Calhoun’s competitive powerlifting career, but for the -63kg weight class as a whole. Over the last decade, Thompson has been a dominant force on the USAPL National level stage and hasn’t lost at a national meet since 2008. Going into the final deadlift, Thompson was ahead of Calhoun by a few kg and Calhoun needed to deadlift 225.5kg/497 lb for her third attempt in order to tie Thompson’s 500.5kg/1,103 lb unofficial IPF world record total.
The successful completion of her final 225.5kg/497 lb deadlift earned Calhoun a 9/9 meet, co-ownership of the unofficial IPF world record shattering total, and a USAPL Raw National Championship, which Calhoun won by bodyweight (61.9kg vs. Thompson’s 62.3kg). In addition, this lift unofficially broke her current -63kg IPF deadlift world record by 4kg.
Below, we’ve included a full recap of Calhoun’s 9/9 performance and attempts.
- Squat: 155kg, 162.5kg, 170kg
- Bench Press: 97.5kg, 102.5kg, 105kg
- Deadlift: 205kg, 217.5kg, 225.5kg
- Total: 500.5kg
In Calhoun’s Instagram meet recap photo she writes in the beginning of her description,
“After competing in my second meet in 2016, I realized I had potential to be great in this sport. I quickly hired a coach, @brandon_senn because I understood that it was going to take someone outside of myself to help get me there. I had high hopes for my first Nationals in 2016. I thought I had what it took to bring down the GOAT, jenthompson132. Even though my total was 70-100 lbs less than hers at the time.” [Cut for brevity]
It was exhilarating to watch Calhoun and Thompson go head-to-head at this year’s Nationals, and we’re pumped to see what the future holds for the ever growing competitive -63kg weight class.
Feature image from @sbd_usa Instagram page.
